The present invention relates to a device of the type comprising a rigid surrounding shell, delimiting an internal volume, and at least one fluid tight chamber occupying the internal volume.
Devices of this type are numerous and can come from various technical fields.
One can cite for example certain reservoirs, of which the internal fluid tight chamber is intended to receive a fluid which one desires to store in order to be able later to empty this fluid, or again certain floating or sliding devices such as floats particularly of boats, hulls of boats, sail boards, toboggans or skis of which the internal fluid tight chamber can contain a gas or a filling material having a relative density generally less than 1, such as for example a cellular material.
Traditionally, the rigid shell of such devices has been made in metal or thermoplastic or thermosetting material and possibly, particularly in the case of floating devices, in wood so that it has a high weight. Further, as a result of the rigidity of the shell, the device which is provided has a constant shape and volume, causing its handling and storing to be difficult when it is not in use.
To remedy these inconveniences, it has been proposed to replace the rigid shell of certain of these known devices, and in particular of floats and reservoirs, by a flexible membrane surrounding the internal fluid tight chamber of which only filling with fluid at relatively high over-pressure, that is to say at high over-pressure with respect to the pressure present outside this fluid tight chamber, gives the shell a defined shape and its maximum volume, by inflation.
This technique can certainly permit an alleviation, in the case of certain devices as for example the floats of boats, but the necessity of putting the internal fluid tight chamber under high over-pressure renders the putting into service of the device particularly long and laborious, unless one has at one's disposal a compressor itself heavy and voluminous and further requiring a source of energy.